From the Ashes
by Morrigan Anne Aensland
Summary: Saturos and Menardi are back, and they're out to get Isaac and Co. But with Idijema gone, they must backtrack northwards! What will happen to them? Read and find out!
1. Prologue

From the Ashes- Prologue

Darkness. It's all I can see, all I can feel. It surrounds me. Am I dead? I don't know. I can't remember anything...

It's funny, you know. When you're dead, you've got a lot of time to think. For instance, right now, I'm wondering why I can't recall anything. All is dark. All is silent.

And then I remember.

I remember our quest to save our people and the entire world. And how we failed that one task set upon us.

I remember going into Sol Sanctum and stealing the Elemental stars. I remember that I have a partner. His name is Saturos...

I remember lighting Mercury's beacon, and how Saturos was beaten by those... whelps.

Ah, yes. The whelps. I remember _them_. They were trying to stop us. They didn't know what burden we carried. Now that I think back on it, maybe Jenna was right. _Maybe_ they would've understood if we had explained ourselves to them. But then again, they didn't seem like the type who would just sit back and listen. Especially that oaf... Garet was his name, I believe.

I also remember Venus Lighthouse, the Fusion Dragon, then... our end. I remember falling... and then everything went dark.

I wonder if Saturos is dead? If he's alive, is he searching for me? When he finds my dead body, how will he react?

Suddenly, my train of thought is interrupted by a drop of water. Feh. I hate dripping water-... Wait? I'm dead, right? I'm not supposed to feel anything, right? But I can feel my body again. Which means I can feel pain again. Crap. Oh well, at least I'm not dead. I think pain is something our bodies use to tell us that we're still alive.

Slowly, I open my eyes. It's dark, but not nearly as dark as it was in my subconscious. I can see the faint glow of a strange liquid that I'm currently lying in. It's a bright gold that seems to energize me even as I stare at it... Is this...? No, it couldn't be... why would there be water of life at the bottom of the pit of Venus Lighthouse? Then again... Revive is a Venus psynergy. But I digress. I look around once more, and I see a lump lying in the middle of the chamber, or room, or whatever this place that I'm in is. I wonder...

I slowly get to my knees (the horrid pain still lingering in my body) and manage to crawl over to the lump, with much difficulty. Upon closer examination, I discover that it's Saturos. Is he dead?

"Saturos...?" I say to him, hoping to get some sort of a response from his limp form. "Please... don't be dead..." I lean in closer, and I hear a sound.

Snoring. He's asleep. I'm speechless, and for some reason or another, annoyed. So I start poking him. Poke. He's squishy. Poke. Hey, this is kind of fun... as I go to poke him again, his eyes snap open.

"Saturos? Are you okay?" I ask.

"..." is his response. "... Are we... dead?" he asks me.

"I don't think so... I can feel pain throughout my body."

"Is Felix okay?"

"I... I don't know. Remember, I fell before you."

"I'd rather not remember that, Menardi."

"Sorry."

"Oh well. I'm sure Felix is fine," Saturos mumbles as he tries to sit up, winces in pain, and falls back down into the water, which by now I've gathered is just a small pool. "He's a strong boy."

"Hmm." I nod in agreement. I have the feeling that he's right.

"So... this is the very bottom of Venus Lighthouse?"

"Yup."

"And I take it that this is water of life that we're lying in?"

"Probably, but I don't know why there would be water of life down **here**..."

Saturos looks at me blankly. "How are we going to get back up **there**?" He says, pointing upwards. My stomach churns at the thought of just how far beneath the surface we are.

"We could fly up there as dragons..."

"No, we barely have any psynergy left."

"We could climb up..."

"I don't think so. We're both in poor condition, and shouldn't even think about climbing in our current state."

I begin to grow frustrated. "Well, you're not just going to give up, are you?"

"No," he replies, finally managing to sit up, "I'm just saying we should rest before we try anything strenuous."

"... Can I poke you some more? You're squishy."

He looks at me as if I have a fish stuck to my face. "No."

………………….

insert dramatic music Dum dum duuuuuun!

Me: Well, there you have it, folks. Another story from my twisted mind!

Sheba: You're one of those weirdos who thinks that Saturos and Menardi are alive, aren't you?

Me: Yup!

Sheba: You're delusional.

Me: Hey, Satty, Menny, guess what! Sheba thinks that you're illusions from my twisted mind!

Saturos: Oh she _does_, now does she?

Menardi: We'll just have to change _that_... Satty and Menny grin evilly

Sheba: Well... Uh... I gotta go now, bye! runs away

Menardi: HEY! Get back here! Satty and Menny go running after Sheba

Me: --;; Uh... yeah... well, read and review, people! Or I'll send the Chibi-Fusion Dragon after ya! Fear the Chibi!


	2. Chapter 1: Finding a Way Out

**From the Ashes- Chapter 1 (In which We Walk Around for a Very Long Time)  
**

* * *

"Well, I think I can stand up now..." Saturos mutters after a few minutes, and slowly gets to his feet. "We should try and see if there are other ways out of this place."

I nod, and rise to my feet as well. "I think I've recovered just enough psynergy to light this place up," I say, snapping my fingers. To my immense relief, a small flame apparates in my palm, giving off a soft light. I raise my hand above our heads and survey the area as best I can.

The room we're in now is cavernous and damp. The only bit of light that we had earlier was coming from above us- a narrow pinprick of golden light. I shudder involuntarily. Were we further below the surface than I had originally thought? Cautiously, we move forward, stopping every few feet and checking around us.

After stumbling about for what seems like hours, we come across a narrow tunnel in the wall. Saturos looks at me as if to say something, but he doesn't speak. He just nods, and squeezes himself inside the passageway. I follow suit. The tunnel eventually branches out to the extent that we're able to walk side by side. The ground also appears to be sloping upwards, which is a good sign that we're at least headed towards the surface… I hope.

We walk in silence for a while, until the gentle slope of the ground ends, and a steep incline begins. Great, we're going to have to climb in our exhausted and battered states. This day just keeps getting better. Saturos offers to let me start climbing first, to which my reply is a sharp jab to his arm.

"OW! What was that for, Menardi?!" Saturos gasps, clutching his arm. I glare at him and point to my dress. "Yes, it's a lovely dress, Menardi," he says, (despite the fact that it is in poor condition at the moment) "but I don't see what that has… to do… with…" Saturos trails off as comprehension dawns on his face. "Wait, aren't you wearing leggings under your dress?"

"Yes, but I still don't want you staring at my butt, clothed or not," I reply. Saturos' face flushes red for a moment, and I think I hear him mutter something, though I'm not sure what it is.

"Alright then," my companion sighs, "I'll go up first." Saturos then starts to make his way up the rocky path, and I follow suit.

Our way up is slow and treacherous. Saturos now holds a flame in one of his hands, lighting our path. My flame is still glowing steadily. We're very lucky that this isn't a sheer cliff face, or we would have no means of climbing it with just one hand. Just when it seems as if we'll be climbing forever, the ground levels out. We both sigh in relief, only to wince when we look in front of us.

"Oh no," I groan, looking at the solid wall in front of us, "A dead end! Damn it…"

"Maybe not…" Saturos says, crouching. He points to a small hole in the wall, which is large enough for a single (but rather large) person to fit through. Saturos, having learned from the previous pain in his arm, volunteers to go first. Surprisingly, it's not long until he calls out, "It's clear!" I crouch down and crawl through the hole.

Once the other side, I brush the dust and dirt off of me. I glance around briefly. "Where do you think we are?" I ask softly, not wanting to disturb whatever creatures might be lurking in the darkness.

Saturos furrows his brow for a second, and then replies, "If I had to guess, I'd say we're somewhere below Lalivero."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because," he says pointedly, "I can hear voices above us—and they all seem to be talking about one thing-"

"--Sheba." I finish for him, finally picking up on the sounds coming from above us. Are we in someone's basement? My answer comes to me when Saturos stumbles over a few sacks of what appears to be grain lying on the floor. He catches himself, though, and we carry on.

Ahead of us, there's a heavy oak door set into the rock. Saturos tries the handle, but the door doesn't budge. "Locked…" he grumbles.

"We could always burn it down," I suggest.

"And draw attention to ourselves?" he says incredulously. "There's got to be another way, Menardi. Burning everything in our way isn't always the best course of action."

"You're no fun at all," I say, sighing. "Stand back, I'm going to try something else." Saturos eyes me suspiciously. "No, I'm _not_ going to break it down. I'm going to pick the lock."

"What? When did you—how did you learn how to do that?" Saturos exclaims.

"Felix taught me," I reply. And so I begin picking the lock, and launch into a story that explains how this unusual skill came to me.

Three years ago, when we rescued Felix and his parents from a raging stream, we took the boy in and taught him how to fight. We knew we'd need a Venus adept, and while his father and that man named Kyle were experienced, Saturos insisted that he saw great potential in Felix. So, the boy became our student. Saturos trained him in battle, and I trained him in psynergy.

One day, when Saturos was done training him, he went to go study his psynergy with me. Unfortunately, all of my books were locked in the closet, and in a fit of adolescent rage, my little sister Karst had thrown the key into the river (boy, did I ever ground her for that one). Felix asked me what was wrong, so I told him of the circumstances. Then, to my surprise, he said it was no big deal, and that he could open the door for me. I was curious at first, but when he asked if I had a pin, I knew what he was up to.

While he picked the lock, Felix explained to me that he had learned this skill because Jenna would often lock him out of the house when he annoyed her, and he finally got sick of standing outside waiting for her to cool down. Before I knew it, the closet door was open and Felix was standing there with a smug grin on his face. I asked him if he would teach me how to do that, and he agreed to do so. That was one of the rare moments where we bonded a little.

Back in the present, I almost have the door unlocked. _Just a little more, _I think. When I hear a "click," I know I've succeeded in my endeavor. I crack open the door and grin. Saturos just shakes his head and smiles.

What awaits us on the other side of this door? It could be angry Laliverans. It could be a horrifying monster. Personally, I think I'd rather deal with the monster. Saturos and I nod to each other, and then throw the door open.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry that it's been a while since I've written anything for this fic. I had writer's block, like, really bad. That, and I've always been sort of picky when it comes to my writing. I'm not a perfectionist by any means, but I do like to make sure that my stories are at least readable.**

**Menardi: And why the hell are you writing from my point of view, again?**

**Me: Eh, I thought it would be interesting. The story seems to flow better that way.**

**Menardi: Ah. Well, as long as you don't muck things up too much, I suppose I won't have to kill you.**

**Me: Um, thanks?**

**I'm not gonna beg for reviews or anything, but it'd be nice to have some feedback. So, if you feel like writing a review, I heartily encourage you to do so. Also, don't expect the next chapter for a while, unless I have a sudden burst of inspiration. I gotta think these multiple-chapter-story-things through. Smell ya later, folks! (On a side note, don't you just hate it when authors end a chapter in a cliffhanger? Ah, but it garners interest in the story, I suppose.)  
**


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